Friday Finish: Cherry Baby

I can't even remember when I started making this quilt. It was at our yearly quilt retreat in the mountains at the end of February, but I can't remember the year--probably at least five years ago.

This is what I do remember. The pattern is by Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company, and the fabric is by Holly Holderman of Lakehouse Dry Goods.

It is a perfect combination. Most of the fabric has very subtle metallic accents that are just beautiful, but don't photograph well.The blocks are large enough to really show off the fabric.

I wanted to use the pink check fabric on the bias for the binding but didn't have enough. I did have a coordinating alphabet panel that I couldn't figure out what to do with, so I ended up cutting it into strips for the binding. That gave me a mostly white binding with little pops of color every so often. You can also see the pretty fabric used for the backing--blue with little cherries all over.

The size is 64" x 64" and was beautifully quilted by Darby. It will go up for charity auction next April.

I can't resist sharing a couple more pictures.

I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Ft. Worth Fabric Company. Have a lovely weekend.

Friday Finish: Pop Beads

I started this quilt a long time ago. According to some photos I uploaded to Flickr, it was in February 2011. It is made entirely of my precious collection of original Flea Market Fancy fabric and Kona snow for the background.

It was based on a quilt by Mary Hickey called Mama's Pop Beads, which she made based on a vintage quilt. Mary's quilt was very scrappy and had a "piano keys" border. So I figured out a way to simplify the block and make it out of a single fabric plus the background.

I had originally planned on posting a free tutorial on how to make the quilt block, after receiving several requests for the information. Then after the whole top was sewn together, I happened to notice a magazine in my local quilt shop with a very similar quilt on the cover. It turned out to be "Chain of Fools" by Jen Kingwell. At that point I was not familiar with Jen (which shows you just how long ago that was!), but still, even though quilt was totally based on Mary Hickey's quilt, it felt awkward to post the tutorial. So the quilt top languished in a pile for the next several years.

In spring I decided that it needed to be completed. My block construction is different from either Mary's or Jen's, so if there is any interest, I will post the tutorial.

I love this quilt so very much.

Darby quilted it with one of my favorite designs.

And of course, since it is made entirely of original FMF, it felt like the obvious choice to use more Denyse Schmidt fabric on the back.

And the binding too.

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF, Fort Worth Fabric Studio, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. Happy weekend, everyone.

Friday Finish: Texas A&M

I started this quilt three years ago for my brother's daughter, Liz, who was a student at Texas A&M. I had planned it for her graduation. She graduated over two years ago. Hmmm. How I wish procrastination wasn't such an issue with me.

The Aggies fabric came from the Fat Quarter Shop and the rest came from my stash.

Oh, except the backing fabric, which is a favorite. The colors are just perfect to coordinate with the sports fabric on the front but adds a nice girly touch.

Isn't it awesome?

 Darby surprised me by quilting the logo several times--she is the best!

It's on its way to Dallas. I really hope Liz likes it. (We don't see her nearly often enough so I hope she doesn't mind that I grabbed this picture off her Instagram feed--isn't she beautiful?)

I'm linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.